Abstract:

Because of the differences of the basement fault and basement lithology as well as stress environment, three distinctive kinds of fault systems are developed respectively during evolution history of Qaidam basin, which are northern margin, mid-dle region of the basin and north Kunlun Mount. They domi-nate seven petroleum zones- northern margin, Yili Ping to Gansheng Lake, middle region, middle-south rift, hero peak to Mangya depression, south Arjin Mountain and north Kunlun Mount, different in hydrocarbon accumulation and formation. The middle-south rift region is the sole one district where no petroleum pool has been found so far. In this paper, we believe that in the middle-south rift region there are better conditions of formation of petroleum reservoir and it will be a strategically important breakthrough region for oil and gas exploration.

Key words: Qaidam basin, fault system, petroleum zone, reservoir formation